Write answers in your notebook please!

Religious Order and Persecution

Justinian, as the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, appointed leaders of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He
persecuted and oppressed other Christian sects and other religions. Paganism was outlawed in Justinian’s
Code and his government took actions to destroy it. He closed a school that taught Plato’s philosophy in
Greece, abolished the worship of the god Amun at an oasis in the Libyan desert and the worship of Isis in
Egypt.

In addition, the civil rights of Jewish people were restricted in Justinian’s Code.

As a result, people from many different religious and ethnic groups converted to Eastern Orthodox
Christianity to avoid persecution.

Justinian was one of the first emperors pictured holding the cross, a symbol of Christianity, as he is in the
coin pictured above.
Image was created by Panairjdde and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

1. How did Justinian control the Eastern Orthodox Church?

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2. Explain how Justinian consolidated his power using religion. Give at least two examples.
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3. Why would the images on the coinage be important in terms of power?

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Write answers in your notebook please!

Justinian’s Code, excerpt

At the core of Justinian and Theodora’s goals as leaders was reestablishing the greatness of the
Roman Empire. One of their methods was to draft a new law code called Corpus Juris Civilis, or
Justinian’s Code. Justinian set up a commission to collect and revise all of the Roman laws. In 529
CE, Justinian published his first set of laws known as the “Body of Civil Law.” The work of compiling
and editing Justinian’s Code was directed by Tribonian, an official in Justinian's court. The code
included laws on marriage, slavery, property ownership, women’s rights, and criminal justice.
Justinian used the law to unify his empire under his control and provide a sense of stability for his
people. Justinian’s Code did not only have an effect on the Byzantine Empire. Over the centuries, it
became the basis of legal systems in Europe.
Mosaic of Justinianus I - Basilica San Vitale (Ravenna).jpg by Petar Milošević is published under the CC BY-SA 4.0 International license.

Justinian’s Code: Book I, Of Persons

Book I, Of Persons
I. Justice and Law
3. The maxims of law are these: to live honestly, to hurt no one, to give
everyone his due.

4. The study of law is divided into two branches; that of public and that of
private law. Public law regards the government of the Roman Empire [the
Byzantines at the time referred to themselves as “Romans.” Historians started
using the term Byzantines to separate this empire from the western Roman
Empire]; private law, the interest of the individuals.

VIII. Slaves
We now come to another division relative to the rights of persons; for some persons
are independent, some are subject to the power of others. Of those, again, who are
subject to others, some are in the power of parents, others in that of masters. Let us
first treat those who are subject to others; for, when we have ascertained who these
are, we shall at the same time discover who are independent. And first let us consider
those who are in the power of masters.

1. Slaves are in the power of masters, a power derived from the law of nations:
for among all nations it may be remarked that masters have the power of life
and death over their slaves, and that everything acquired by the slave is
acquired for the master.

1. What was one of the main goals of Justinian and Theodora? ____________________________
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2. What was the new law code called? _____________________________________________________

3. What did Byzantines call themselves? ____________________________________________________
4. What were some purposes of these laws? (give at least two) _________________________________
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5. Why is this law code important today? ___________________________________________________
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